Sustainability
of agricultural production a desired goal to feed the rapidly
increasing population

By Dr.
S. M. ALAM
Dec 16 - 22, 2002

Sustainable agriculture integrates three main
meaningful goals - economic profitability, environmental health, and
social and economic equity A variety of philosophies, policies and
practices have contributed whole heartedly to these goals. People in
many different capacities, from farmers to consumers, have shared this
vision and contributed to it. Despite the diversity of people and
perspectives, the following themes commonly weave through definitions of
sustainable agriculture. Sustainability rests on the principle that we
must meet the needs of the present situation without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Therefore,
stewardship of both natural and human resources is of prime importance.
Stewardship of human resources includes consideration of social
responsibilities such as working and living conditions of laborers, the
needs of rural communities, and consumer health and safety both in the
present and the future.

Stewardship of land and natural resources involves
maintaining or enhancing this vital resource base for the long term. A
system perspective is essential to understanding the phenomenon of
sustainability. The system is envisioned in its broadest sense, from the
individual farm, to the local ecosystem, and to communities affected by
this farming system both locally and globally. An emphasis on the system
allows a larger and more thorough view of the consequences of farming
practices on both human communities and the environment. A system
approach gives us the tools to explore the interconnections between
farming and other aspects of our environment. Sustainable agriculture
normally requires a series of small, realistic steps. Family economics
and personal goals influence how fast or how far participants can go in
the transition. It is important to realize that each small decision can
make a difference and contribute to advancing the entire system further
on the "sustainable agriculture continuum." Finally, it is
important to point out that reaching toward the goal of sustainable
agriculture is the responsibility of all participants in the system,
including farmers, laborers, policy makers, researchers, retailers, and
consumers. Each group has its own part to play, its own unique
contribution to make to strengthen the sustainable agriculture
community.

Agriculture is the mainstay of Pakistan's economy and
sustainability of agricultural production a desired goal to feed the
rapidly increasing population. Sustainability becomes even more crucial
in view of the prevailing agro-climatic conditions that are highly
conducive to rapid loss of agricultural resources like soil, water and
nutrients. However, the challenge of putting sustainable agricultural
systems into place has perhaps seen less than desirable and necessary
progress. One reason being that the concept of sustainable agriculture
is difficult to deal with, particularly in the developing countries like
Pakistan where farmers have few resources and limited options. In
addition, sustainability in agriculture is a "moving target"
and no single method of farming in any region remains sustainable
without continual intervention and change.

Agro-ecosystems capable of ensuring sustained
productivity require management of resources through a diversity of
interdependent forms of life, recycling of plant and animal wastes,
selection and rotation of crops. This approach is based on the fact that
soil is living entity and that it must be fed to enable it feed its
inhabitants. We need to understand and work in harmony with the natural
biological systems in order to develop cultural and biological means of
crop nutrition and protection that are balanced, sustainable and
resilient. With this method, soil fertility is maintained as well as
improved by increased biological activity that provides plants and
animals with essential nutrient elements and conserves soil resources.
Insects and diseases are controlled by encouraging a balanced
host-predator relationship and by an increase in beneficial insect
population.

Sustainability of agriculture may differ from field
to field and farm to farm from one period of time to another because of
dynamic biological, physical, chemical, and environmental factors. Thus,
continuous investments need to make in agricultural research for
evolving new knowledge, new practices/technologies, and in updating
farmers knowledge and skills. This job can best be done through
participatory activities of scientists, extension workers, NGOs and
endusers, i.e. farmers. This workshop is intended to bring together all
the players that contribute or can contribute towards making
agricultural systems sustainable. The main objective will be to sift the
information already available, seek new knowledge and recommend
strategies for both short term and long term sustainability of agro-
ecosystems.

INTRODUCTION:
Four essential ingredients of an agro-ecosystem that are susceptible to
human intervention to a certain extent include i) planting material, ii)
soil, iii) inputs, and iv) insect/pests and weeds. Only a good balance
between all these components can help sustain agricultural productivity.
In addition, farm animals contribute significantly to the livelihood of
farming community and hence their well-being is an essential component
of a healthy farming system.

LAND PREPARATION:
In ploughing of land and its leveling is the pre-requisite requirement
for getting a good crop yield. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare the
land smoothly and precisely in order to get a substantial crop
productivity.

SEED AND CROP MANAGEMENT:
In order to obtain optimum and sustained crop yields, the first pre-
requisite is the quality seed that is produced and maintained under
appropriate conditions, while rotations and diversification are key
principles in sustainable ecological farming system. Diversity of crops
in both time and space prevents insect and disease buildup, improves
cycling and acquisition of nutrients and provides a hedge against poor
market conditions for any one crop. Rotation must be as varied as
possible and include legumes, green manuring crops and deep-rooted
crops. varietal selection should therefore look beyond maximum potential
yield and consider insect and disease resistance, nutritional quality,
flavour and positive response to lower inputs of nutrients and water.
Cover crops are used to hold the soil, improve fertility and provide
habitat for beneficial insects. Weeds could be managed through rotations
with competitive cover crops, timely mowing or cultivation, mulching
with organic materials, and living mulches etc. In this session papers
pertaining to some of these aspects will be presented.

SOIL MANAGEMENT:
Important land
resources problems include threat to bio-diversity, depleting fertility,
deteriorating biological activity and twin menace of water-logging and
salinity. Maintenance of health and biological activity of soil is
possible through green manures and leguminous cover crops, composted
plant and animal residues fortified with micronutrients, naturally
occurring microbial inoculants, cover crops that activate K, composted
manures high in P. Inputs of organic matter must be sufficient to
maintain or, even better, to increase the long term humus content of the
soil. Adoption of resource conservation technologies like Zero tillage,
bed and furrow planting technique can help sustain productivity. For
problem soils (e.g., salt- affected soils), adoption of biological
approach is not only environment friendly, but economically viable as
well. It is on some of these aspects that expert lectures will be
delivered.

WATER MANAGEMENT:
The Indus Basin
Irrigation System mainly supports Pakistan's irrigated agriculture which
comprises 20.6 million ha., ca 5 million ha being rainfed. Competition
between the agricultural and non-agricultural uses has decreased the
availability of sweet water for agriculture and the supplies are
expected to decrease further. In addition, substantial losses of
irrigation water occur during transport and from the site of irrigation.
The water losses and its inefficient use exist in both rain-fed and
irrigated tracts. In irrigated areas, there are huge conveyance losses
and the efficiency of water application/use at farm level is far from
satisfactory with the existing irrigation system. Therefore, to sustain
agriculture in Pakistan, adoption of water management practices on a
large scale are urgently required. The conservation of water is possible
through adopting improved irrigation technologies and tillage practices,
green manuring, and the use of mulches, etc. The brackish sub-surface
water from salt-affected areas can profitably be used following
treatments like gypsum, acids or acid formers. Elaborate discussions are
planned on these aspects.

FERTILIZER MANAGEMENT: Soils
in Pakistan are either low in nutrients or the latter are not readily
available. This is because i) the entire crop is normally removed from
the field resulting in mining of nutrients, and ii) the organic matter
content is low because of meager replenishment as well as rapid loss;
both factors contribute to a low level of biological activity that is
responsible for nutrient mobilization. Use of chemical fertilizers is
therefore essential to obtain desirable yields. This practice not only
affects the short term economy of the agro-ecosystems but has serious
environmental implications as well. Indeed, inorganic fertilization must
be a supplemental source and not a substitute for recycling nutrients
and the objective of any fertilization scheme must be to maintain or
increase fertility and biological activity of the soil. Materials are
not to be used as a primary management strategy, but rather as an aid to
resolving a specific problem until the farm system is brought back into
balance. Hence, strategies to economize fertilizer use and to increase
its efficiency are needed for agriculture to remain sustainable,
profitable, and environmental friendly. Several lectures will address
these issues during the course of the workshop.

PLANT PROTECTION:
One of the crop yield limiting factors is the pre- and post-harvest loss
by insect/pests and microbial pathogens. Some of the strategies to avoid
these losses include preventive management such as use of resistant
varieties, limiting to avoid cycles of pest emergence, intercropping,
rotations, balanced plant nutrition, parasitic nematodes, introduction
of predators, habitat enhancement to encourage beneficial predators,
sticky traps, microbial and viral diseases. Pest problem can also be
minimized by proper timing of plantings and the use of trap crops to
attract pests and beneficial alike. It should be appreciated, however,
that pest-free and weed-free fields are neither always possible nor
economically and ecologically desirable. Learning the thresholds for
tolerable levels of weeds, insects, birds and rodents taken time and
experience and is an ongoing process. Being an integral component of any
cropping system, different aspects of plant protection will be
discussed.

ANIMALS HEALTH AND NUTRITION:
Farm animals are essential components of a farming system especially in
countries like Pakistan and contributes significantly to the earnings of
the farming community. Livestock management is based on good nutrition,
animals stress reduction, and preventive medicine etc. Some recently
developed, economical and efficient means to maintain animal health will
be discussed.

The phenomenon of sustainable agriculture is sound
and very useful for present day of agriculture. Therefore a serious
thought may be given to its meaningful use in the agriculture system of
the country.